Dean Jones

LOS ANGELES — Dean Jones, whose boyish good looks and all-American manner made him Disney’s favorite young actor for such films as “That Darn Cat!” and “The Love Bug,” has died of Parkinson’s disease at 84.

Jones made 10 Disney films. “The Love Bug” (1969) was the most successful of the genre, with Jones playing a racer who acquires a Volkswagen that wins races for him.

He started his career as a singer before going on to appear in a string of mostly forgettable films in the 1950s. A notable exception was 1957’s “Jailhouse Rock,” one of Elvis Presley’s best-remembered films, in which Jones had a small role as a disc jockey.